Being With. - ID# 46

Glenbrook South

Documentary

Entry Description

A documentary about Robin Lake, a hospice caretaker and social worker, who works at JourneyCare CareCenter. Robin takes care of patients with terminal illnesses during the last days of their lives. She reflects upon how her career affects her inside and outside of the facility. Written permission to use music by De Wolfe Music.

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/25 8:15 pm - Visually striking and very well done. Enjoyed how you used 2 cameras on the subject and the footage of the hospice facility is terrific. Story wise it is solid but I feel a lot is jammed into the 5 minutes without any significant takeaways. I would have loved to of heard some more first person stories from her experiences. The family part gives us some insight into her personal life but I don't really know how that fits with everything else. It is beautifully shot but I think the story could use more development but it was an ambitious project and very well done.
• 4/22 3:05 pm - Great quality in the audio and variances in perspective throughout the interviews, good creative use of broll on a difficult topic to capture coverage. Structurally if you would have started with the friend's story that would have been an even better hook. A lot of the narrative is really tightly edited and overdone. Towards the end when you had a more authentic pacing it really helped make her sound more human. The end is sudden and feels incomplete
• 3/5 1:34 pm - Positives: Powerful opening! Interview lighting is great. B-roll selections are thoughtful, and support the story, as does the music bed. Smooth camera movement holds everything together. Very professional look! Areas for improvement: Only one note: the final clip feels just a bit rushed... could have used a more dramatic pause between "It's only sad"... "because we love them so much." and then the piece ends very shortly after that phrase. Give it a little room to sink in at the end. Great work!

Judge 1

Positives: Wow! Wow! WOW!!! This story told BEAUTIFULLY told! I am ALL in on Robin's narrative - she is a fantastic story teller - I could REALLY feel her! The decision to use the white back drop was spot on! The music choice was absolutely effective. A difficult story to tell visually, yet your use of abstract footage couldn't have been much better. Excellent pacing and movement with the camera work, use of sun flares etc. The shot of Robin's hand on her husband's back while he plays the piano is THE winner of the entire piece!!! LOVED going to Robin's home and seeing her with her family! Excellent use of graphics.

Improvements: I could nit pick, but why - this story is a winner!

Judge 2

Positives: The shot of the bed at the top is beautiful. The dialogue is recorded well.

Improvements: Some of the shots are generic b-type shots. The waterfall, for example, doesn't tell much of the story. More b-roll about hospice will resonate. The backdrop of the subject can be more compelling in terms of lighting. If you are doing a heavy talking head doc, the lighting has to be strong and she looks washed out from the lights.

Judge 3

Positives: The camera tracking movements and 2 camera interview makes it look very professional. The shots with the sun and exteriors are done very well. The shot of the empty bed int he sunlight was the best and spoke volumes about the subject of hospice.

Improvements: Some shots were a bit dark, but I feel there may be a purpose to have them feel a bit moodier, but still, could have used a bit of some fill lights on the interiors of the hospital. Another interview with a family member or co worker may have been a nice diversion from only the one interview.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: